Disquiet, horror and perturbation follows
by hardly loquacious
Summary: Introspective fic from three POVs Lisbon, Jane and occasionally Minnelli beginning at the end of the season finale and ending with the ending of the second episode of the new season. Not romance, but does explore Lisbon and Jane's relationship.
1. Chapter 1

Disquiet, horror and perturbation follows...

A/N: A secret santa gift for Yana (aka Yaba) over at jello-forever. The request was to basically write from the season finale to the premiere. Title is from Much Ado About Nothing (in case anyone's interested), perhaps not entirely appropriate, but close enough, and I like the phrase. This is my attempt at resolving the season finale with the season premiere as requested. The fic runs from the last scene of the finale to the end of the second episode of the season. I hope I was successful. It was harder to do than I was expecting. Focus on Jane and Lisbon, with a bit of Minnelli and the odd hint of the team.

As always, I don't own anything

Part1:

xxxxx

No one who's ever worked in or alongside law enforcement ever doubts the old adage, "In a split second everything can change."

A split second is about as much time as it takes for a gun to fire, and anyone who's job is to keep the peace has seen a single gunshot change far too much far too many times.

xxxxx

They were cordoning off the crime scene. Things were done, wrapped up. And although the conclusion certainly hadn't been ideal in the minds of everyone concerned, Lisbon was perfectly happy with how things had turned out. She was alive, Jane was alive, her team was alive. Maya Plaskett was alive, and although she certainly wasn't well, at least she was breathing. And because of it Lisbon wouldn't have to tell the young woman's family that they'd arrived too late to save their daughter. They even had a link to Red John in Sherriff Hardy, or whatever his real name was. Jane was upset about that of course, well, not about the potential lead, but about losing Red John. But... Jane would just have to learn to deal with it. Lisbon didn't have the luxury of living for a semi-suicidal revenge fantasy. And who knows what Hardy could tell them. He just might be the missing piece they'd been waiting for. It _was_ possible.

She walked over to talk to one of the local deputies. She knew there was no point in talking to Jane anymore tonight. The lunatic was still completely beyond reason. She scoffed internally. Imagine thinking she'd let him sacrifice himself that easily, that she'd really let him go into a house alone when Red John was expected, especially knowing her consultant's murderous intentions. Besides, there was nothing more she could say to a man who insisted on giving up on life so completely. Lisbon shook Jane out of her head as she greeted the older deputy and started updating him on the details of the scene.

Suddenly she was startled by a noise behind her.

Hardy had somehow managed to free himself and get a gun. After shooting his own partner the first thing he'd done was round the gun on her.

She'd frozen for a split second. Sure she'd faced down the barrel of a gun before, but it wasn't usually held by someone so completely deranged, who knew his life was over now either way. And she assumed that she was about to die. Sure enough she heard a shot. But to her surprise it was Hardy who fell. She turned and saw Jane. Jane of all people was holding a gun. The image just didn't compute.

Jane hated guns... almost never touched them... But now he was holding a recently-fired rifle, with an expression of pure horror on his face. Seconds later, as if realizing what he had done, he threw the gun down like it was toxic.

Jane had just shot a man. But he was her _consultant_. The man that she took great care to inform everyone wasn't actually an agent. He'd taken a life. A potential lead's life. To save her.

Oh. My. God.

Then Lisbon watched as Jane ran to Hardy, trying to save the man's life, to catch his dying words. She watched as Red John's latest pawn laughed at Jane's pain.

Saw that pain on the blond man's face. As she took a breath that by rights she shouldn't have been able to.

And just like that the balance shifted.

xxxxx

Jane wandered aimlessly off of the porch. He had to leave the house eventually. There wasn't anything there. He knew there wouldn't be. He couldn't hide forever. And she wouldn't let him hide from her.

Besides she'd seen too much (_and revealed too much_) already.

Red John had slipped though their fingers again. He couldn't believe it. He'd been so close. He'd just _known_ it. And then Lisbon had chickened out. Hadn't wanted to go through with it. He chuckled bitterly to himself; even in his current state of mind he knew that was a ridiculous thought. Lisbon hadn't _chickened out_ (_she never did_). The woman had never really had any intention of going through with the plan to begin with. He should have known that. She'd made her position on his intended homicide abundantly clear.

And then, after thwarting his plans, his little everlasting optimist had even pointed out that thanks to her choice not only was everyone still alive, but they still had a lead.

When would the woman learn that hope was wasted on him?

He knew the "lead" was no good. If there was even the slightest chance Hardy would or could actually tell them something, Red John would make sure of he didn't. Somehow.

But despite his preoccupation when he was talking to her, when she was trying to make him see her position, he was still hyper-observant. Watching her. Even in his anger and disappointment. Always watching her. Especially now. He couldn't afford to let her fool him again. So he watched her face.

Knew she was hoping he'd change his mind. Decide not to murder. Maybe decide to live. Well, he knew better. Eventually she would too.

It was that same hyper-observance that let him know something was wrong before anyone else did. He watched in horror as Hardy started to move. Somehow knew what the man would do, and without thinking grabbed the rifle leaning up against the porch beside him. Aimed it at the madman, who had wasted no time in pointing a gun at _Lisbon_. His Lisbon.

Jane didn't even flinch. Just shot. Watched as Hardy fell. Watched as Lisbon turned to him. Shocked yes, but alive. Thankfully, very much alive.

Then he realized that Hardy might not be. Running over to the fallen man he got there just in time to hear a dying jeer.

Hardy was dead. He was back where he'd started. He'd failed his family. Again. And it was his own doing too. He'd killed the man himself after all.

But his Lisbon was alive. He'd never regret that. She couldn't die. Another woman couldn't die because of him. He wouldn't allow it. Especially not her.

"_Can't you see there are people who care about you? Who need you?"_

Pushing her voice out his head he met her eyes in despair. Willing her to fix it. She _always_ fixed it.

And he saw the shock in her eyes. The shock and the sorrow, for oh so many reasons. But mostly, he knew, because she couldn't solve this. Hadn't fixed it. Thought she had, had been almost pleased about it too. And now it was broken again. And she looked as upset as he did. And guilty. But for what? For being alive? For the fact that he'd had to kill? For what she thought he would view as a betrayal?

And as he looked between a badly shocked woman and a dead lunatic, he knew. He'd sacrificed his investigation for this woman. Without even thinking he'd put her before what for years had been his only goal. Somewhere along the way protecting her had become reflexive.

And that thought made him crave solitude, as quickly as possible.

But first there were things to do.

After all, there were another two bodies now. (_Could have been more_. _Could have been her._)

He had to give a statement. Lisbon had to give a statement.

(_I saw Hardy grab Officer Morris' gun. Saw him shoot him. Morris went down instantly. And as he fell, Hardy turned and pointed the gun on me. I barely had time to even reach for my own weapon when I heard the second shot. Hardy fell and I saw Jane holding the gun. It was a good shot. He... he saved my life. Maybe Maya's as well._)

He watched as she took charge, calmed everybody down. When logically she should be the one who needed calming. But not his Lisbon. She would not shirk her duty. She was a state agent, and she would complete her job promptly and efficiently as was expected of her.

And soon she had everybody reasonably calm, well maybe not calm, but subdued, dealt with. But she she'd actually _dealt_ with quite everyone personally. He knew of at least one person she hadn't tried to comfort (_maybe the only one_). After making her preliminary rounds she'd called Cho and Rigsby back to the scene. Spoken to the (pretty badly shaken up) local cop in charge (telling Cho to keep an eye on him with a single raised eyebrow). Then she'd left her unofficial second in command in charge of the scene and moved slowly (_warily?_) towards him. But that couldn't be. Because Teresa Lisbon didn't walk warily anywhere. Her gait was quick, and sharp. Purposeful, but not hurried. He could pick it out in the crowded bullpen with ease. Of course, he could pick almost _anyone_ out of the crowded bullpen with ease, but she still stood out.

And now she was wary. Worried. Unsure of how to approach him. As if he was some sort of bomb that could go off at any moment all over her.

Which he supposed wasn't a totally unreasonable simile.

But he had (some) control over himself now. He was Patrick Jane. His self-possession was stuff of legend. He sent her a half-smile. She frowned slightly. Ah, so she knew enough not to trust it. Smart woman.

He scoffed internally. _Of course she was smart._

Or was she? Because then her face softened. Not in pity, but in compassion. In apology.

"Jane?" she asked him in that way she had, softly, tenderly. He liked it. That voice was real, vulnerable, more genuine than the brash confrontational one she used most often with him (though he liked that one too). But this voice was Teresa. And was the closest thing in his life right now to a caress.

He just nodded in response to her salutation, so she continued. "We're going to take Maya back to her parents now, if you want to come," she told him. The unspoken _Please come_ in her eyes. Like if he saw the girl reunited with her family it would make him happier. Make things better. Make him see what he'd sacrificed for. (He didn't care about Maya. And he'd already seen what he'd made the sacrifice for.)

But maybe it would help the ache. A little. At least it would help justify the day. But nothing could ever make him better. "Of course." He told her. "Lead the way."

But she didn't. She paused, bit her lip. Nervous habit Lisbon. Got to get rid of those, he scolded her mentally. "Jane?" she tried again, "About what happened..."

"Don't," he told her abruptly. Didn't want to hear her talk to him in that voice. In the voice she reserved for the hurt and the broken. He didn't want her compassion. Didn't want it and certainly didn't deserve... didn't deserve...

"I just wanted to..." she tried again.

"You did what you had to." He told her. "What you thought was right. And you're right Lisbon, you saved a woman. Congratulations." he told her without emotion.

"You saved Maya too," she argued.

"I didn't save anyone," he countered as he walked quickly to the police car. If he'd had his way, Maya would probably be dead. He hadn't cared a hoot for Maya Prescott. But he couldn't tell her that.

Couldn't make her hate him.

"You saved me," she whispered quietly to his back.

He'd pretended not to hear. After all, that hadn't been a choice. Not really.

xxxxx

But he did go with her in the police car to the Plaskett's, sitting in the front seat while she sat with Maya in the back, occasionally whispering words of comfort, but mainly keeping silent. She hadn't said a word to him. Seemed to understand he didn't want that. And he was grateful. He didn't want a conversation, not until he'd had a chance to think. If she decided to force one on him he'd prefer if she did it when they were alone.

It was daylight by the time they pulled up at the family house. When they pulled into the driveway Jane got out of the car first, opening the car door for his boss and watching as the local officer opened the door for Maya. Saw Maya run to her family, who wasted no time in enveloping her in a hug. He hung back at the car. He didn't want to talk to the family. Who knows what on earth he'd end up saying?

Probably something Lisbon would kill him for. And he didn't want to say anything to provoke her.

But she didn't seem to be in any hurry to speak to the family either. She took a few steps towards them only to wait on the edge of their property, giving them their moment. Letting them hug their daughter. The woman seemed to have an innate sense of when to push and when to just let things be. And the families trusted her for it. Believed what she told them. Even if she needed her badge to get her in the door (or at least she thought she did), once she was in, they opened up. He watched as Mr. Plaskett approached her, and reached out to shake her hand. Jane assumed the man was thanking her. Even sent a nod Jane's way.

It wasn't Mr. Plaskett he was interested in. But Lisbon. She was always just solidly, calmly and quietly there. No wonder the victims trusted her. He could never be bothered to take the time to foster that kind of a relationship, preferring to use short-cuts to insinuate his way in. And so the families sometimes hated him. He would never be able to show that kind of genuine compassion. The kind that came so naturally to her. But Lisbon always put the innocent first didn't she? Always. But he wasn't innocent was he? And didn't plan on remaining so. Therefore she shouldn't put him first. And he didn't have the right to let her. He didn't have the right to the compassion she'd tried to give. So he would refuse to let her give it.

When they got back in the car to the police station she'd been quiet. It was only after they arrived and the officer escorting them left them alone that she tried again, "Jane..." In that voice of hers. She was using that voice. That voice that he didn't deserve.

So he'd interrupted her. "I need a walk. It's pretty around here. I think I'll go look at the scenery. You guys have got some paperwork to go through before we head back don't you?" When she didn't answer right away he continued on before she could object. "Great. Why don't you just go do that? Give me a call before you leave would you?" And without another word he'd turned and left the station, leaving her to watch him walk away, a helpless expression on her face (_but he knew Teresa Lisbon was far from helpless. Everyone did._).

So Jane wandered. Found himself in an orange grove of all places. Well, it was California. They weren't exactly _rare_. He thought over the events of the last 24 hours. He'd come up with a plan to finally catch the man he'd been hunting for years now. And he had been thwarted, oddly enough by one of his colleagues. Well, if he could call her that. Was he really even on her team? He liked to think so, in a sort of loose capacity, though his motivations and mindset were drastically different than the other members. He supposed when he came right down to it he was, though he also liked the liberty of believing he wasn't as well.

Given his semi-rogue status why had he thought Lisbon would go along with his plan? Had the tunnel vision everyone told him he got when Red John was involved been so limiting that he'd seen only what he wanted to see? Or was she a better liar than he'd thought? But that could be dismissed quickly. Lisbon was a terrible liar. (_Though he couldn't always read her._) Part of the reason their fake-argument for the Sherriff's sake had been so convincing was that some of what she'd shouted at him had been genuine. He probably frightened her, more than she'd ever admit.

And when she'd gone back on their plan (_his plan, not hers, never hers_) it'd hurt. Because he'd trusted her. Was that why he'd assumed that she'd follow his lead? Because _he'd _trusted _her_? But she didn't trust him. She'd told him so. And though she trusted him more than she knew, she certainly didn't trust him implicitly. Maybe he shouldn't do the same. Oh he could trust her with his life, with his safety. She'd always had a higher regard for that than he had. And he could trust her to protect him, protect his position, keep him close to Red John. But maybe he couldn't trust her when Red John was involved. Because she cared about the law, and about him. And he cared about neither. He just wanted to kill.

Maybe his biggest mistake had been the complete trust he'd placed in Teresa Lisbon. She was an honest woman, and a just one. But as she'd once pointed out, there was a difference between justice and vengeance.

Still, even after the betrayal, he'd saved her life without thinking. It had been an almost reflexive action. Why? That was more troubling. He only had the one goal. Where did she fit into it? If she'd been right about Hardy, keeping the man who might lead them to Red John alive should have been far more important to him than a single agent, even if she was his strongest link to the CBI. If Hardy had panned out, Jane wouldn't have needed her anyways. Of course, everything had happened too fast for the pros and cons of a given action to be weighed and considered.

He'd reacted without thinking. And it turned out that at least subconsciously his foremost goal had been saving her life.

It hit him like a thunderbolt. Momentarily paralyzed him. (_Good thing no one else was around_.)

She'd gotten too close.

He cared about her. How much he couldn't be sure. Probably as much as he could care about anyone anymore.

He'd known it to a certain extent. Known she interested him more than anyone else. But he told himself it was just because she was complex, she was interesting. She was fun to study, fun to provoke. Even with his singular goal, if he didn't have a link to Red John he could still have a bit of a laugh. And that's all it had been, a game. A diversion. His favourite diversion, but a diversion nonetheless. He'd acknowledged that she was attractive. That was allowed. He was still alive and still male. Acknowledged that he might like her laugh, her smile, how her eyes looked when she was annoyed. But he liked teasing Grace as well. Lisbon was just more fun because she was more of a challenge. He had to work at it with her.

He'd been a fool.

He didn't love her obviously. Wasn't about to start writing her sonnets to her eyes (_Although if he was going to romance her, that certainly wouldn't be the way to go about it. She'd probably just laugh and roll her eyes. She'd never believe that sort of thing was genuine._). Still, he cared about her. And she mattered now. More than anyone else.

More than she was supposed to.

And to make things worse she cared about him too. She'd made that clear as day earlier.

And he didn't know if he'd be willing to sacrifice her, even for Red John.

Because she didn't deserve that. He wasn't sorry he'd saved her. Never would be. He _was_ fond of her.

And that was the problem.

One he needed to remedy.

People who were too close to him ended up dead. He was careless and arrogant, and he couldn't protect them (_The fact that Teresa Lisbon didn't need protecting was irrelevant_). She could still get hurt, and he'd already admitted that he couldn't have the death of a second woman close to him on his conscience.

Besides, he didn't need the distraction.

He knows what he's living for, and it's not her. It couldn't be her.

Jane considered the events of the day. He hadn't chosen life, well not his own at least. But he'd chosen hers. Without thought.

Without thought he'd fired a gun and taken a life.

Jane smiled to himself as he picked an orange. He'd saved a life by taking another. Well, isn't that exactly what will happen when he finally killed Red John? Except in that instance it'll be _lives_. Lives of all the potential future villains. At least he knew now that he can do it.

No, he's definitely not sorry he saved her.

But she'll feel guilty. Maybe resent that she owes him anything at all, let alone something so important as her life.

Because for all that Teresa Lisbon trusts her colleagues in the field, she doesn't trust them with herself. Doesn't want to feel beholden.

And she did go back on the plan.

Maybe he could use that.

He bets she'll give him some lee-way.

xxxxx

Lisbon had no idea what to say to him.

No idea whatsoever.

Jane had saved her life. She hadn't expected that. She wasn't naïve. Knew that she worked in a dangerous field. Knew that she had to trust her colleagues. And she'd counted on Rigsby or Cho to help her out of a tight spot more times than she cared to remember. She had to. She was sure that given time Van Pelt would join the list of people she owed her life too as well. It was the nature of the job. They depended on her, she depended on them.

But she'd never expected it from _Jane._

He was her slightly off-balance consultant. The wildcard. No one ever knew quite what he was up to or what he would do next. It was how he worked best (and was responsible for a good percentage of the friction between them).

She guessed that _technically _he'd helped save her life before, when she'd been trapped in an isolated cabin in the woods with a killer and she'd needed a diversion. He'd come through with that trick with her phone.

But this was different. This time had involved eliminating the source of the danger, not just distracting it. And given that she'd not even had time to draw her weapon he must have acted without thinking.

And that meant a lot. It meant that whatever he said, whatever he tried to claim, her life, and the life of his team members mattered to him. I mean, she'd always _hoped_ they did... But he made it awfully difficult to remain optimistic sometimes.

And he'd saved her _after_ she'd broken an agreement with them. _After_ she'd wrecked his chance to finally meet his rival. And not only that, the man he'd killed had been the best lead he'd had to finding the hated Red John.

Yet Jane had still saved her life.

Maybe it had just been a reflex. Or maybe he wasn't as far gone as he'd like everyone to believe. Maybe he did care about her well-being. Maybe this had been Jane's way of choosing life instead of revenge.

She didn't know.

She had no idea what was going on anymore.

She'd wanted to thank him. But he hadn't let her. The man had cut off any attempt at communication she'd made. He clearly needed to sort things out.

Maybe he regretted saving her.

But not even Jane could be that cold... Could he?

God that was a horrible thought.

She wasn't sure how she felt about Jane saving her life. After all, he's technically a member of her team. She's saved his life more times than she cares to count (though she's pretty sure Cho's keeping a tally somewhere). She should be able to just write this off as part of the job.

But she can't.

Because it's Jane. And it's Red John.

And she feels guilty that he lost a potential lead to the killer. Guilty that he's one step farther away from achieving some sort of peace. Guilty that, given the situation, things worked out in the best possible way that they could have for everyone except him (well, him and Hardy, but she couldn't say she cared one way or another about that).

Not only that, she didn't like that she felt like she owed Jane something. Especially something as important as her life. She was grateful he'd saved it of course. Happy to be alive. Her guilt didn't extend to self-loathing. But owing Jane was dangerous. It made her position more vulnerable. And she was already vulnerable enough where he was concerned.

Damn! Why did it have to be Jane who grabbed the gun in time? There'd been at least four other cops on the scene.

She wasn't supposed to bond with Jane. And he wasn't supposed to care about her. She was supposed to watch him. Make sure he didn't do anything stupid. And her judgement couldn't be compromised. (_Not anymore than it already was.)_

But then again, he had saved her life without hesitation. Like another CBI agent would have. Maybe she was looking at this all wrong. Maybe he did care more than he indicated. Not about her personally per se, but about the team. About how things were supposed to be between team members. Maybe she should cut him a little slack. Maybe even trust him. He'd saved her life after all; she probably owed it to him to try. And, she did tend to scold him an awful lot.

She could try a little positive reinforcement. Tell him when he did a good job. It was supposed to be the more effective method of team management (and scolding him never had any effect anyways). They'd never have a good relationship if they didn't communicate. She didn't need to trust him completely, but maybe she should lighten up. He deserved it.

Besides, any failure the team encountered wasn't really his fault. It was hers. She was supposed to be in charge after all.

She'd give him a little more rope, she decided as she got in the car to pick him up. It was a good idea.

So why did she have a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach?

xxxxx


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2:

"So what the hell happened out there?" Minnelli asked the head of the Serious Crimes Unit. "I thought the suspect was secure." He hated to sound so harsh, but he'd almost lost a valued agent. He hadn't lost a man (or a woman) since he'd taken this job, and he had no intention of starting with her.

"Everyone did sir," Lisbon explained. "He was handcuffed and supposedly unconscious. No one thought to check and see where his handcuff keys were. He was able to free himself, and then grab a nearby officer's gun from his belt."

"Which he promptly used to shoot said officer before turning the gun on you," Minnelli finished for her.

"Yes sir."

Lisbon didn't seem to be in the mood to expand on her answers, so her boss had to do it for her. "And no one noticed he was conscious?" Minnelli checked. "Not even the local cops watching him?"

"No sir," she confirmed.

"Well, not until it was too late," Jane added, speaking for the first time.

Minnelli sighed, and turned towards the other man. "At which point you shot him. To save Agent Lisbon."

"Well yes," Jane told Minnelli airily. "He'd already shot one officer. And he was pointing a gun at a second, specifically, as you said, at Lisbon." Jane shrugged. "So I shot him."

He watched looked at the younger man closely. "While I'm still not sure I like the idea of you having access to a gun as a rule Jane, in this case I'm glad you did. Good job."

"Thank-you," Jane told him, serious for the first time since entering the office Minnelli noticed. It didn't last long though. "And don't worry about the whole gun thing Virgil, don't want one. Hate the things really."

"Yes well," he replied, as usual at a loss over what to say to Jane. "Good job you two. The case is closed and a woman is safe at home."

"Yes. Too bad we still have to catch Red John," Jane pointed out. Lisbon winced.

"And we will." Minnelli told the man firmly. "But not today. And not tomorrow either. Lisbon your entire team is on leave for the next four days." When the agent looked like she might protest he stepped in quickly, "I don't want to hear it Agent. You've had a rough week. Take a few days off. I mean it. I don't want to see any of you in the office until Monday."

"Sir, if I may," Jane started, "I think our time would be better spent investigating the new leads before..."

But Minnelli didn't wait for his reasoning. The man was clearly currently about one step away from unhinged. "And you will do that." Minnelli interrupted. "But you will start on _Monday_. Dismissed."

"Thank-you sir," Lisbon told him. Jane said nothing.

"Oh Lisbon," Minelli called to her, "A word before you go?"

"Yes sir?" she asked politely, though her boss could tell she wanted nothing more than to leave.

"This isn't a punishment Lisbon," he told her.

"I never thought it was," she answered truthfully.

He hesitated before asking his next question, "Are things going to be alright?"

"Sir?" she asked.

But he saw right through her attempt to pretend she didn't know what he was talking about. "Nice try. We both know how crazy Jane gets when Red John is involved."

"Yes sir, but you're right. We'll take a few days, calm down. He'll be fine. I've got it," Lisbon replied quickly and easily.

But Virgil Minnelli was no fool. And she'd given that answer or one similar to it so many times it was probably second nature by now. Came as naturally as breathing to the woman, "Hm.," he muttered non-committally. "Jane saved your life."

"Yes he did," she acknowledged.

"And you don't think that'll affect your working relationship?"

She sighed, "Of course it will. I'm grateful Jane saved my life sir, but that doesn't mean I'm about to let him get away with murder." When he shot her a look the younger agent hastened to clarify her statement, "I meant that metaphorically sir, although I suppose in this case one could take a literal interpretation as well," she told him with just the slightest quirks of her lips.

"Hmm." Minnelli said again, returning her almost-smile. "I just worry about you, whenever that lunatic is concerned."

"Don't," she told him firmly, sounding far more confident than he was sure she felt. "I can handle him. And you know he solves cases. Plus, when it comes right down to it he acted like a member of the team yesterday."

Minnelli wasn't so convinced. The fact that Jane had saved her was a good sign, but he didn't think it meant they were in for any big transformation. Still, he let it slide, for the moment at least.

Lisbon turned to leave when her boss continued, "You did the right thing Lisbon."

"Sir?" she asked him.

"Arriving early." When she looked shocked he almost chuckled to himself. There was a reason he was the director of the CBI after all. "Yes, I know about that. You did the right thing. You saved a life."

"Yes sir," she told him quietly. "And so did Jane."

Minnelli sighed internally at the look on her face. He should've known she'd feel guilty. "Go home Agent. Rest."

"Yes sir."

"And you know sometime next week both of you are going to have to go through psych evals?"

Lisbon froze momentarily, before sighing, "Yeah," she told him. Knowing it was procedure.

"Good," she turned to leave. "And Lisbon?" When she looked back, he tried to smile, "Good job out there." Her answering smile didn't meet her eyes.

Well damn. Minnelli thought to himself. He didn't know all the details about why the pair had even been at that farmhouse when they were, but he'd heard enough of the gossip filtering around the office to fill in the missing pieces of the story. He knew that there'd been some sort of plan to lure out Red John. Knew that the plan had failed. And he knew that said failure was likely because of a judgement call made by the ever-competent Agent Lisbon. And because of it things were going to get interesting. Because he knew what would inevitably follow now that Lisbon felt that she'd failed to protect one of her own. They were in for a rocky ride. And though she'd have his support whenever humanly possible, he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to go without interfering. Especially if that lunatic's most recent behaviour was anything to go by. Because he would not let that man bring his agents down with him. Teresa Lisbon would not be destroyed by Patrick Jane. Not if Virgil Minnelli could help it.

xxxxx

Lisbon walked tiredly out into the bullpen where her team was waiting. All three of her agents moved towards her the second she was in sight. "You okay Boss?" Rigsby asked her.

She smiled softly at his concern, "I'm fine guys. No harm done." Then she tried for the joke, "Lucky Jane's a better shot than we figured. Guess we should have known though. He's freakishly good at everything else."

Her team gave her small half-smiles. "Where is Jane?" Van Pelt asked.

"He's not here?" Lisbon checked. When the three of them shook their heads, she shrugged. "Then I assume he went home. We're off until next Monday. Minnelli's orders." When it looked like they might object Lisbon continued, "It's not punishment. It's a break. Jane shot a man. Both of us have to go through psych evals. It's standard procedure and you guys know it. Plus, we could all probably use the rest, so go home."

The three of them gathered up their stuff, "So, Jane's not upset?" Van Pelt asked tentatively. "About the whole Red John thing I mean?"

How in the hell would she know? Her guess was as good as anybody else's. Sometimes Lisbon wondered why her team thought she had some sort of read on the consultant. She might no more than the average person, but it was rather like comparing how much an eight year old and an eighteen year old knew about quantum mechanics. The eighteen year old would certainly know more, but given how much there was to know, the slight difference was almost irrelevant. "You all know how Jane gets," Lisbon told them. "But he'll be fine. And we saved a life today. We didn't get Red John this time, but there'll be other opportunities, okay?" Then she faked a genuine smile, one so good, that everyone (except maybe Jane had he been there) would be deceived. "Now seriously, get out of here! Four day weekend. Who's not excited for that?"

That did elicit real grins from her team, and amid a chorus of "Night boss," and "Glad you're okay," they left.

Lisbon shook her head and walked towards her office, preparing to leave herself. She was somewhat surprised to find it occupied, not that she should have been. "Jane?" she asked quietly. "We all thought you'd left."

He turned from his position in front of her desk to look at her, a smile ghosting across his face, "You thought I'd leave without saying goodnight? I'm hurt Lisbon."

"I'm sure you are," she remarked sarcastically, softening her words with a smile, as she leaned up against her desk beside him. "You okay?"

"It seems to me I should be the one asking you that," Jane pointed out. "Why wouldn't _I _be okay?"

Lisbon sighed internally, "I'm fine Jane. Really. You made sure of that."

He guessed he had, hadn't he. The fact still troubled him. Just like the fact that despite his decision to shut her out, he'd felt compelled to see her one more time before he left. "I guess so," he told her cheerfully.

"I wanted to thank you..." she started to tell him.

"No need Lisbon," Jane interrupted quickly. He grinned again, his grin both bright and tragic all at the same time, "Consider it payback for all those times you've saved me from one of my own crazy stunts as you call them. This time it was me saving you." He paused, considering. "Still my crazy stunt though."

Lisbon's face fell, "We will get him Jane," she told him quietly.

"Of course we will," Jane replied with that same false over-brightness. He'd been right. She did feel guilty. "After all, we've been doing quite well so far!"

Lisbon managed not to wince. "We still have leads," she tried, somewhat desperately. "Leads we didn't have two days ago."

"Leads we can't work on until Monday," he pointed out.

Lisbon sighed, "What do you want from me Jane? We could all use a couple of days off to clear our heads. And the fact that you can't see that proves the point rather than contradicting it. There's nothing you or I can do about our little vacation, so go home, or maybe go to the beach. Read a book. I don't care, but don't come here."

Jane felt a little stab of guilt, but brushed it aside quickly. "Oh, I didn't mean to imply that our little vacation was _your_ fault Lisbon. You always do what's best for everybody. Even me." He grinned at her again. "And I guess I'll see you Monday. Have a good weekend."

"You too Jane," she said quietly, that sick feeling was back in the bottom of her stomach.

Jane straightened up and jauntily left her office. But when he got to the door he found that no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't quite do it. He turned halfway towards her, "I'm glad you're safe Lisbon. I'm glad you're okay," he whispered to her. But before she could reply he was gone.

"Me too." She whispered to her empty office.

xxxxx

Lisbon was cautiously optimistic when she returned to work on Monday. She'd used her days off to catch up on sleep and housework. Even found some time to do a bit of personal shopping. She almost felt relaxed. Sure she had the stupid psych eval to deal with, and she knew that things wouldn't be magically back to normal, but she also didn't see any reason to anticipate a complete disaster. She hoped that everyone (aka Jane) would have had time to just calm down a little, take a few deep breaths. She figured she and Jane could get their working relationship (such as it was) back on track.

She should have known that a positive attitude would just be tempting fate. Especially where Jane was concerned.

She found him outside of her office when she arrived. "Morning Jane," she told him with a smile. "How was your weekend?"

"Oh swell," he told her quickly. "I can see you're relaxed."

"I am." Lisbon told him, ignoring his tone, "I..."

But he interrupted her before she could continue, "We need to interview Rosalind again," he told her.

"What?" she asked.

"Rosalind. To see if she knows anything about Red John," Jane explained. "And I think Van Pelt should search the..."

"Jane!" she interrupted. "I literally just walked in the door. Could you at least let me get into my office and put my stuff down?"

"But Lisbon, if we don't seize our advantage now... You know how quickly he does things."

"I know. And you and Cho can go talk to Rosalind this afternoon, _if_ we don't have another case," she promised him. "But right now I believe you have a psych eval."

"Oh come on, we both know that's a waste of time. I could pass that in my sleep and it wouldn't mean anything."

"Jane, you don't need to convince me of your insanity," she said with a smile. "But it's procedure, and I can't let you go out on an interview until you pass it okay?"

"Ah yes, procedure," he remarked scathingly, noting when she blanched. "I guess we all have to follow procedure don't we?"

"Yes we do."

"Alright then," I'll go talk to the shrink. "And then you'll let me go talk to..."

"YES JANE! No go!"

"As you wish Lisbon."

With that he was gone. He thought it'd gone rather well. She'd capitulated to his demand to re-interview the witness far more quickly than he'd thought she would. Despite the four day weekend, it seemed that Agent Lisbon wasn't quite as over matters as she'd like everyone else to believe. Excellent.

Even with his plan to push her away, he couldn't help noticing how happy she'd looked after her little break. He almost felt a bit guilty about taking advantage. But he'd decided where his priorities lay.

His meeting with the shrink took less than half an hour. Poor Dr. Carmen clearly hadn't the foggiest idea what on earth to do with him, and so had cleared him for duty as quickly as possible. Jane grinned. It was really too easy. He ducked his head into Lisbon's office and told her he was taking Cho. She'd merely looked up from her paperwork with a smile and nodded, pleased that he'd passed his eval.

Jane wasn't sure how he felt about this new mellower Lisbon. It'd certainly make his job easier, but all the same it was worrying. It seemed almost unnatural.

Shaking off that thought he wandered into the bullpen to grab the Asian agent assigned to accompany him.

xxxxx

And so things had continued for the next two days. Lisbon, trying to be cheerful (although that was difficult, given that while she'd technically been cleared by the shrink for active duty, he was requiring follow up sessions), Jane following up on every and any lead to do with Red John in a frenzy, driving the other agents of the team to distraction. All three were about ready to stage an intervention (ie. go to Lisbon's office and complain) when they got another case.

While the rest of the team was relieved about the new case Lisbon herself was almost nervous. Jane was basically manic. She understood why. Really she did. And she wanted to give him leeway, but the glint in his eyes was dangerous. Not to mention she thought she saw a flash of what looked like annoyance cross his face when the prospect of a new case was broached.

Of course the reaction had only been momentary. Milliseconds later Jane appeared cheerful again. He'd been eager to go out, was the first in the car with his seatbelt buckled.

The team reviewed what they knew on the way. A body had been found in the woods, first murder in the county in the local Sherriff's entire tenure and he'd felt somewhat out of his depth. So the CBI had been called in.

They had basic background of course, victim was a local. Single white female, 32. Not a lot of family, just a single elderly aunt in the area. No previous criminal record, and the woman worked as a nurse at the local health clinic. Not much to go on until they actually arrived at the crime scene. Since there wasn't anything they could do until then the team tried to relax. Except for Jane, who, though appearing to be outwardly calm was clearly still ready to burst. Lisbon figured his extra energy would sort itself out when they actually got to the scene and he had something to do. She just hoped he used it to help solve the case and not to irritate the locals.

xxxxx

Their first case post-Hardy/Tanner. He was almost excited. At least he was trying to be. He recognized that the team couldn't spend all it's time searching for Red John. Wasn't so out of touch with reality as all that. Especially since Rosalind had turned out to be another dead end. They still had avenues to explore of course. Databases to search, connections to track down, especially on Hardy/Tanner's end. It was slower than he would have liked, but at least sometimes he felt like they were making progress.

Which is why it irked him slightly that that progress was being impeded. Oh well, he was sure the case couldn't be too challenging. Probably wouldn't take any more than a couple of days. And after it was solved, he could go back to doing something useful, like finding Red John.

Jane noticed Lisbon looked a little tense. Probably concerned about what balance would be struck their first day really back in the swing of things. Well, it was her call. He intended to get things done as quickly as possible; it was up to her to decide how she'd deal with it. He idly wondered how much she'd let him get away with. She'd been remarkably easy-going these last few days. Probably due to something she'd read in one of the endless leadership books he was sure she bought. Some nonsense like the power of positive thinking. Ridiculous really. Especially since he doubted any of the techniques were meant for someone with his particular talents or personality.

Still, her compliance meant he got to chase down as many Red John leads as he wanted, which was helping things along. Maybe he shouldn't rock the boat.

On the other hand, he didn't want to make things too easy for her. It wasn't a good idea in the long run. He needed to push her away, just not too far.

It was going to require subtlety and balance.

It was irritating that they had to stop working on Red John because of this new disturbance though.

Jane's mood dropped further when he actually saw the crime scene. They'd driven all the way out here for this? The victim had obviously been hiking alone, happened on her attacker, who'd proceeded to beat her to death and rob her. Robbery had obviously been an important aspect of the attack (after all, absolutely anything of value had been removed including a ring, necklace, phone, something from her pocket, Jane guessed maybe a credit card and some cash in case of an emergency, and her watch. There weren't many signs of a struggle, so she probably knew the attacker. The robbery was almost certainly planned. "I assume our victim stood to inherit her aunt's money," Jane said to the local sheriff.

The sheriff paused in the middle of his discussion with Lisbon surprised, "Uh, yes sir. Josie was poor Mabel's only living relative."

"Who was next on the list?" Jane asked.

"Pete Sanders. Son of an old friend of the family," the Sherriff informed him. "Why?"

"Because he did it. Come on; let's get to his house before he gets spooked ant tries to destroy evidence."

"Jane!" Lisbon cried in shock. "First of all, we have to process the crime scene first. Second of all, we don't even know cause of death. Third, we can't just go arrest someone with no proof. And fourth, what makes you think Pete Sanders is our killer?"

Jane grinned. Ah, she was already annoyed, excellent. Not even bothering to conceal his smirk he launched into his explanation, taking extra care to be as glib and patronizing as possible. It was easy really, all it took was the appropriate tone of voice and a couple of extra terms of exaggerated endearment. And it helped that given her height he was often talking down to her, in both the literal and metaphorical senses of the word. When he finished he could see that Lisbon was quietly seething.

But to his surprise she simply took a deep breath to calm herself before smiling up at the Sherriff. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to question Mr. Sanders. We'll have to do it eventually anyways. Do you know where he'd be at this time of day?"

"Yes ma'am," the sheriff told her cordially. "He'll be at work down at the new housing development of Third Street. He's an electrician. I can drive you if you'd like."

"Actually," Lisbon told the man, "I was wondering if you could stay here with my colleagues since you're familiar with the territory. Jane and I will take the interrogation and we'll meet back later."

"Sure," the man agreed, obviously quite content to let Lisbon take the lead. Jane snorted. He bet the man had thought about the murder for a whole three seconds before deciding to call the CBI.

"This is a waste of time," he told Lisbon as they walked towards the car. "That man could have solved this case himself if he'd bothered to exert himself even a little. If he'd had even a single ounce of gumption. But no, he called us in because a murder was too much for him to handle."

"Hey, be nice," she told him. "They're not used to murders like we are. Wanted a little bit of extra help. Besides, this case might not be as open and shut as you think."

"It is." Jane told her.

And it was, as he discovered the second they spoke to Pete Sanders. As it became clearer and clearer to him what a waste of time this trip was Jane got shorter and more confrontational with the suspect. In the end Lisbon had to physically separate the two men. They got enough to arrest the guy, of course, but it was always possible that a good lawyer'd be able to get half the stuff Jane`d pulled thrown out of court at a moment's notice.

But Jane didn't care about that. His job ended when the guy was in custody. What happened afterwards was the lawyers' problems, as always.

"Well that was a waste of time," he remarked bitterly to Lisbon.

"Hey Jane, a case is a case," she told him soothingly. "They can't all be interesting."

"I know; it's just that was two days that we could have been using to better use searching for Red John if that sheriff had been at all competent."

"Jane, unless we have substantive leads then new cases are going to come before Red John. You know this. It's been explained to you time and time again," Lisbon told him quietly.

"Yes," he told her. "It's just..." and he deliberately let his voice trail off as he glanced quickly at her.

Watched as her shoulders slumped slightly and she sighed. "I know. I get it Jane." Come on. Let's go home.

xxxxxx

He was almost feverish. She could literally see it in his eyes. If she hadn't known him better she'd have thought he was actually ill. And maybe he was, in a way. As far as she could tell there was certainly no cure. He'd been running on eleven since they'd arrived at the hiking trail and seen the scene of the crime. Not pausing to take a breath, not letting anyone else take one either.

He'd known who the guy was the second he saw the scene. Was this always the way it was with Jane? Did he usually let them blunder along until they reached the conclusion he'd come to earlier? Something that now that they were more actively pursuing Red John he decided he didn't have time for. Or had this case just been a lucky hunch? Lucky for her the hunch had been right, _this time_. She'd given him a bit more free reign and he'd certainly taken it.

But Lisbon knew she was competent enough to pick up the pieces. He had been right, this particular case hadn't been particularly tough, hadn't been particularly dangerous. It would have been a nice way to ease back into things. If Jane hadn't been acting like a rabid wolf of course.

What worried her was her team's attitude. Van Pelt had watched out of the corner of her eye half in fear, half fascination. Cho had looked quietly impressed at the speed at which the case had been closed, and Rigsby had looked positively bewildered, but also amused. None of them had seemed to have a problem with the corners he'd cut, the risks he'd taken. There was no acknowledgement of the work that had been done (almost entirely by her) to ensure that the case was legitimate. As satisfying as watching Jane verbally rip apart their suspect had been, Lisbon knew she couldn't allow it in the long run.

Except they _had_ solved the case.

She hoped he'd calm down as things moved along.

But things didn't calm down. There next three cases were similar whirlwind experiences. Jane blowing in like a tropical storm leaving destruction in his wake while she followed afterwards like the Red Cross to pick up the pieces. And yes, parts of it were fun. Jane bonding with a witness over exchanged magic tricks had been enjoyable. And that the time he'd rigged a door to open on cue, spooking a witness into confessing (she'd assumed it was the work of a vengeful spirit) made Lisbon smirk. But she didn't know how long she could do this. Didn't know how long she could let things slide. The balance between trusting Jane but still maintaining control was harder to find than she'd thought it would be. And while she found herself consistently deciding to give him a bit more slack (_just this time, he did get the job done_), there was less positive reinforcement, and more nagging. Though she couldn't bring herself to truly shout at him. Not yet.

If only everything he suggested didn't sound so reasonable on some level.

To make things worse, somehow their relationship had changed. There was no more playful teasing. Or there was, sort of. But it wasn't the same somehow. She didn't feel like they were sharing the same moments, that same sly sense of humour that had cropped up from time to time. They weren't as in sync as they were before. There was no easy familiarity. And if Jane was running hot all the time on the cases, back at the office with her it was like a switch. First he was warm, friendly and open, joking (though it often seemed forced), seemingly pleased to see her. Glad of her company. And every so often there'd be an almost genuine moment, one that reminded her of how things used to be.

But then, something would change. And she could see it in his eye. Like he was deliberately holding himself back. Trying to shut her out. The man would just shut down. Everything was matter of fact. He answered her questions, but he couldn't have been less emotional or less involved if he tried. He was getting cold, withdrawing. And she didn't like it.

So she kept trying, trying to reach him. But it was about as effective as trying to catch a ghost. She wondered if he was turning himself into one of his own illusions. And she had no idea what was real and what wasn't.

Something had to break. And she knew it would break soon.

xxxxx


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3:

xxxxx

And break it had, only a day later, with a couple of crashes and a gunshot.

Jane of course had been singularly unconcerned about either. After all, the consultation at the mall had been, in his opinion, yet another waste of their precious time. Lisbon for her part was getting sick of his constant (but subtle) denigration of their work. Of his constant impatience and detachment. He moved about his day like nothing mattered to him anymore, not her, not the team, usually not even the case. _(Unless he was working on Red John of course_).

She tried to be amused by the fun parts of working with Jane, like the local authorities' dismissal of Jane's methods (actually, it had been pretty funny watching him assess their witnesses). But the amusement didn't last; she was too tired. It had been a long couple of weeks and she felt pulled in too many directions. Jane was of course indifferent. Her snapped "Take it down a notch! Take it down three notches!" had no effect. He'd acted like she'd barely even been there.

The ride back to the CBI had occurred in near silence where the real showdown had happened.

She'd tried to defend her consultant without explicitly supporting his actions (she was walking a fine line with her boss now). Jane's ridiculous attitude did her no favours of course. And then of course the lunatic just _had_ to bring up Red John ("All due respect Virgil, I was trying to close the case. It was my feeling that Red John should be our priority."). It was something that had already been touched on in several recent meetings between her and her boss, and this was apparently Minnelli's breaking point..

"Stop! Stop! That's the nub of the problem right there!" Minnelli exclaimed.

Then to her horror her boss suggested aloud what she'd been trying to hide for weeks; that she might be going too easy on Jane ever since he'd saved her life. She denied it, but all three of them knew it wasn't true. Then Minelli'd called in Sam Bosco from the hall. Although she was surprised, she couldn't help feeling pleased when she saw her old mentor. She didn't notice Jane watching the pair of them, but it wouldn't have surprised her if he had been. What did surprise her were the next words out of her boss's mouth.

"Agent Bosco and his unit are taking over the Red John case."

Just like that it was gone. No room for discussion, no notice. No one had even seen the need to speak to her privately. She supposed that since Jane was at the heart of the matter no one saw any reason not to make the switch in front of him. It had killed two birds with one stone in that he'd be notified as well. Still, she'd have liked some advance notice to figure out how she was going to deal with the fallout.

But apparently her objectivity had been compromised. Her judgement clouded.

It was a brutal blow to her ego after a horrible couple of weeks.

She stormed out of the office to the bullpen to tell her team the news, over-riding their objections and making sure that she placed all the blame squarely on her own shoulders. She was in charge, any mistakes were her fault. She did stress that from then on, everything would be done by the book to win back the faith they'd lost. She didn't get a chance to make sure her team agreed, they were quickly distracted by Jane.

"What are you doing?" She asked him as she watched him start tossing things into a box. "You're leaving?" She said incredulously. Oh, he had to be kidding! After the past couple of weeks... After everything she'd... Seriously, was the man two years old?

But then again, over the past two weeks he'd done little but try and convince her she'd been wrong in her assessment of what his fatal shot had meant.

He only wanted Red John. And she'd failed him in that twice now.

xxxxx

They were taking Red John away from him? Because they thought he was too involved? Too close? He'd always been too close. It was _his_ family. And he was useful. Virgil knew he was useful, or else there was no way that he'd still be around.

Of course he was more interested in Red John then their recent cases. Those things could have been solved by a monkey with a good magnifying glass and a pair of handcuffs. He certainly hadn't needed to be called in.

And what about Lisbon? Apparently she was too close now as well. Because he'd saved her life. Huh, seems Virgil had picked up on that. He'd tried to push her away (while simultaneously using her guilt). But the plan wasn't working (_Because you don't quite want it too. You know you can't push her too far. You'll lose what little you still have. And sometimes even you'd prefer not to do that. Even you want someone who cares about you around)_. So now they were both compromised, tainted. Huh, Lisbon'd love that. He felt a momentary twinge before dismissing it. It was no matter. He'd be out of her hair soon.

"You're leaving?" he heard a voice ask from across the bullpen. Was she serious? He'd been perfectly clear about the reason he was still around.

"Well, frankly if I can't use this job to seek some kind of personal revenge then ah, there's not a whole lot here for me," he told her matter-of-factly, surprised at the look of utter disbelief on her face. "I don't make anything better; I can't bring dead people back to life. What good do we do? We drive around California visiting unhappy people."

"We're fighting evil and injustice." Van Pelt answered. He should have been more surprised at her naïve idealism.

"And how's that going?" he asked sarcastically. "Any progress lately?" He didn't need this stupid job. Not if he couldn't use it.

"We put bad guys away where they can't hurt people. That's good enough." Cho answered, almost completely unaffected by Jane's response.

But Jane scoffed. Good enough for who? He didn't have the social conscience required to do this without some sort of secondary motive. "Nah, I was doing more good as a psychic. I was giving people hope at least. False hope, but hope anyway."

Then _she_ chimed in again, derisive in her own right, "You're right. Best you leave. That way you can go back to being a full-time fraud and we can continue our useless jobs in peace."

Oh. Well that wasn't fair. He hadn't said _their _jobs were useless. He'd never said _that_. The world needed people like them (_like her_); he just wasn't one of them. "Well, that's not actually what I said, see I was talking more about..."

But then Lisbon and her team were called out for a case. And any conversation with him was over.

He watched as they left him, and knew he'd gone too far. He'd always needed Lisbon to get to Red John after all. Told himself it was the only reason he was still around, but the looks on the team's faces as they'd left... They'd been quite the mixture of disappointment and disgust. That disgust figuring heavily in the lead agent's expression. He felt a bit badly about that. Hadn't really meant to completely dismiss her work. (_She practically was her job._) But she had to know this wasn't what he would normally have been doing if it hadn't been for... Maybe she thought this was some sort of self-imposed penance, but it wasn't, not really. It was _just_ a means to an end.

On the other hand, if he left the CBI completely then he'd really have no access to the Red John files. As long as he still worked in the building he'd have better access to Bosco's office and his team, better access to any leads about the case. And Lisbon would be easier to distract if she wasn't actually working on it as well. He wouldn't even have to worry as much about her trying to stop him.

Maybe his decision to leave had been hasty. Besides, he realized as he looked at his box of belongings. What else was he going to do with his time? The four people who'd just left the room in irritation were the only people he'd had cause to speak to on a regular basis in years. If he left the CBI what then, a life spent sitting on a mattress in an empty house beneath a gruesome face?

He wasn't sure even he could stomach that.

And she'd looked so betrayed. (_And well she might. You know she's been going easy on you, because of... well, because. Trying to cut you some slack, embrace your methods, give you some room to work. And you've done nothing but throw it back in her face. Because you think you have to. And maybe that's true, but you still owe her an apology. She does not deserve to have someone cause her trouble for weeks and then make her feel like you just did. You know you need her._)

God, he hoped she was in a forgiving mood. (_But she was always in a forgiving mood lately. It was... odd.)_

xxxxx

She was going to kill him. That was all there was to it. Murder him. She tries to trust him, tries to work with him. And this is the thanks she gets? Idiot. Jerk. Moron. Imbecile. Self-centred conceited ass... Lisbon's mental list of insults was suddenly interrupted by one of her subordinates.

"Boss, no disrespect, but I think we need Jane," Rigsby told her.

_Need Jane?_ When he'd made his own position on their jobs perfectly clear? When he flouted the rules and regulations with glee? And the fact that she'd let him was what had led to their current predicament. They did not _need _Jane. If they couldn't solve a case without him they didn't deserve to be where they were.

And she had tried to tell her two younger agents that when Jane himself had jumped in the car.

"Well, I'm not going to leave you in the lurch. I'll work one more case," he told her by way of explanation.

She was going to kill him. Just not in front of witnesses. "Do up your seatbelt," was all she told him. Actually, maybe she shouldn't have bothered. If they did get into a car accident and he was unbuckled she wouldn't have to worry about hiding the body.

Needless to say the car ride was not a fun one.

Maybe she was being childish, but she refused to talk to him. And he seemed to have the good sense not to talk to her either. Actually, to her surprise he had the good sense not to talk at all, which was surprising. Thought it did make things a little awkward. Van Pelt and Rigsby tried valiantly to make small talk, and between the two of them they succeeded to a certain extent. She contributed the odd sentence or so. Went over what little they knew briefly. But really she just wanted to think.

Did her team, the work, mean so little to Jane that'd just up and quit?

Or was he just reacting to a situation out of his control with his usual knee-jerk hostility and childishness.

If the first was true it meant he was gone for good, and though she'd miss him, and miss his insights, in the long run if things meant that little to him it was for the best. On the other hand, if the second were true she was in for a whirlwind ride for the next little while, especially if he did stay. She wasn't sure which one she preferred.

Though the second option would definitely be more interesting (_and maybe more fun._)

xxxxx

They walked into the victim's apartment. Jane noticed that Lisbon immediately asked for Van Pelt's take on the scene. Part of her self-appointed role as mentor. Lucky Van Pelt. (_But then the young agent deserves her support, doesn't she? You only have it out of misplaced feelings of guilt)_. He tried to help Lisbon out a little, tried to co-instruct, and to his amusement realized that Agent Lisbon was still quite irritated with him. Her annoyance expressed itself in the usual form of an eye-roll. Jane wasn't too concerned though; he was pretty sure she'd get over it.

Lisbon was even more irritated when he correctly pin-pointed the location of the victim's family. Jane frowned at that though. Lisbon wasn't the type to get annoyed because someone else found something she didn't. Which meant he'd done something seriously wrong this time. He rather suspected that something was related to his packing his things in the office earlier. Still, she usually appreciated his insights. (_But he didn't always appreciate her. Oh hell._)

Her lingering annoyance led her to refuse to find an empty house for sale for him. The woman had demanded _reasons_. Hasn't she learned by now that it was simply best for her if she didn't know? He supposed that scene in Minnelli's office earlier had her questioning herself. She'd probably attempt to put him on a shorter leash on this case. Although, he wondered why she'd bother, given that he'd told her it was his last one. (_Unless she knows you better than you think you idiot. You've always suspected that woman sees far, far more than she tells. Not unlike someone else you both know...)_

While he'd been thinking, Lisbon had been insisting on ground rules, "No secrets Jane. No lies, no tricks, no surprises. The truth." she told me.

"Since when is that the rule?" Jane asked surprised (_and annoyed_).

"Since I said so?" she countered. He'd always admired the confident tone in which she spoke.

"Or else what?" he asked out of curiosity.

"You're off the unit." Oh, is that all then.

"That's not leverage." Jane couldn't help pointing out. Okay, what the hell is wrong with him? He'd already decided that staying on her team was probably a good idea, so why was he trying to piss her off as much as possible? But it was hard to help himself sometimes. She was so intriguing when she was angry (_although she hadn't been angry much lately, which was intriguing in and of itself_). "This is my last case remember? The only reason I'm still here is because I'm worried about how you guys'll cope without me." He was a bit concerned though. Concerned that she might actually do it. Maybe she was ready to cut him loose. Maybe losing a high profile case would be the final straw (_And it might be best for her if it was_). Maybe he hadn't quite struck the right balance between pushing her away and keeping in her good graces. And maybe now he'd suffer for it.

And he was pushing. Because she was annoyed. And she wasn't the only one on her team who was. He'd seen Rigsby and Van Pelt's reactions. "Oh really, so we're lost without you are we?" Lisbon asked him.

"Well, yeah, let's be honest here," he told her, intent on proving his own worth.

But Lisbon didn't wait for him to finish. She slammed his door, jumped in the passenger seat and ordered Van Pelt to "Let's go! Drive, Go."

"HEY!" He called after them, "Wait!" And it seemed he'd finally gone too far. Luckily Cho was driving the other vehicle. His buddy Cho. Cho would be willing to find a house for sale. He knew the other man was far more tolerant of his methods. He'd do it. And he did. Didn't even mind when Jane also made him stop for strawberries. After all, he had to get back on Lisbon's good side somehow...

xxxxx

They arrived not long after the others even with the delay. Unsurprisingly Cho was more inclined to speed than Van Pelt, especially given that the younger agent had an irritated Teresa Lisbon sitting in the passenger seat next to her.

"Strawberries," Lisbon said in disbelief as Jane held them out to her. She loved how he thought these little tokens were always more than enough to make up for whatever lunatic thing he'd done. But she took one anyways. She was tired of arguing with him all the time. And she'd been right, he certainly wasn't going anywhere (_despite what he'd said_). Far better sometimes to just go along with his insanity.

The others took strawberries as well. "How good is that?" Jane asked with a smile. But she could see the effort behind it. Knew he'd realized how badly he'd screwed up this time. She knew she'd probably end up forgiving him, but she wasn't in the mood to make it easy.

"Mm. Good," Lisbon told him quickly, before turning back to her team. "Cho, Rigsby, start canvassing the neighbours. Van Pelt come with me."

Jane couldn't help noticing that he'd been left off her list of assignments. And even though she'd accepted his strawberries, she certainly wasn't happy with him. He needed, well, he needed to apologize. She needed to be on side.

"Ah..." he started, grabbing her hand, and turning her back towards him. "Ah, Lisbon... ah... I'm sorry for what I said to you before. Can I please continue working with you?"

"I thought you were quitting," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You know I didn't mean that." He told her. She had to have. He needed to believe that.

"So the job is worthwhile is it?" she asked, her face not betraying her satisfaction. If he wanted back he needed to give her a good reason. And a promise that he'd at least _try_ and tone it down.

But he didn't seem inclined to do that. "It's not that. It's not that at all. It's just... I have nothing else to do," he told her.

She couldn't help feeling for him then. And she couldn't abandon him. But things couldn't keep going on like they had been. Someone was going to get killed. "No jokes. From now on there have to be boundaries," she insisted.

"Agreed," he told her quickly. She suspected their respective ideas of boundaries were probably quite different though.

So she continued, "I need to know that you can do your work and be effective without creating a mess that I have to clean up." Because she was sick of constantly cleaning up messes. As bad as he'd been pre-Hardy, post-Hardy was twice as bad.

"No mess, I swear," he insisted.

Well fine. She'd gotten what she'd wanted. At least an acknowledgement that he'd be better. It probably wouldn't pan out, but it was somehow more than she'd expected. So she caved. "On that basis you can remain with the unit."

"Thank-you." Then to her shock, instead of simply turning and following the others into the house Jane saw fit to give her the world's most awkward hug. Which she didn't return. She was far too surprised. And let's face it, she was hardly a hugger (_though neither was Jane come to think of _it). She grinned though, when he handed her another strawberry. And together they followed Van Pelt into the house.

Then he started talking about Brody Andrews and wide invisible nets, and she knew she shouldn't have believed a word he'd said.

But in spite of that, having him back on the team still felt right.

xxxxx

She'd been amused when Jane told her he had a meeting with Bosco. She wished him luck, but that'd been a figure of speech. A courtesy. Even if she had had the power to swing fate in his favour it wouldn't have made a bit of difference. She knew exactly what would happen. After all, she'd worked with Sam for years, and Jane was exactly the type of person he'd have no tolerance for (_the type of person he'd taught her to have no tolerance for as well_). Jane could whistle in the wind for all Bosco would care. Lisbon knew how it'd be. The prospect of the two men squaring off lifted her spirits the whole way back to Sacramento.

xxxxx

Jane met Lisbon after his meeting with Bosco. He'd be lying if he said it'd gone like he'd hoped. Bosco was far smarter than Jane had given him credit for; even if the man didn't fully know what it was he was getting in to. Well, he'd learn. Jane would make sure of that. And the other Agent would probably be a bit of a challenge. But he was used to challenges.

Speaking of challenges, the woman beside him was hardly a walk in the park. "How did it go with Bosco?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, ah, good. It was very good. We had a frank exchange of views." That was true at least. Must be something in the water that caused a disproportionately high percentage of CBI agents to be so ridiculously blunt all the time. And whatever it was Cho must drink it by the gallon.

"So he's gonna keep us in the loop?" Lisbon asked him, somewhat sceptically he had to admit.

"No," he told her honestly. She'd find out soon enough anyways.

"No?" Was she amused? She certainly didn't sound surprised.

Well, he'd find out soon enough. "Wouldn't direct me to the bathroom if my ass was on fire."

Lisbon just laughed.

"Think that's funny?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she admitted (_admitted frankly he noticed. Well, they say we learn from our teachers..._)

Why would she think that was funny? She was supposed to be on his team, or rather, he was on hers. Wasn't that supposed to mean something in the crime-fighting industry? But then Jane reflected, maybe she still didn't consider him an equal member of her team. Maybe she did still resent him. Or maybe there was more going on between Agents Teresa Lisbon and Sam Bosco than he'd thought, or there had been. Her amusement was both genuine and somehow knowing. She'd understood he was going on a fool's errand. But how? What was between them exactly? Not an affair, no definitely not an affair, but something else. Interesting...

"Whaddya gonna do?" Lisbon asked him.

"Nothing," he answered. Well, nothing he could tell her about at least.

Which she realized of course. "Nothing?" she asked sceptically.

So he tried deflection. "If you sit down by the riverbank and wait long enough, you will see the bodies of your enemies float by. Shall we?"

She looked amused, and let him get away with it.

Jane, on the other hand, was still mildly annoyed at her lack of support. It irked him. So when the pair met with Mrs. Jaffee of Jaffee printing after Lisbon made the professional introductions and explained why they were there, he couldn't help putting in his two cents. "Do you know Miles Thorston?" he asked..

The woman answered in the negative as he'd expected. After all, it'd be one hell of a coincidence if someone connected with the case actually _did_ know poor Miles. Still, he decided to double-check, in part because he knew it would irritate his colleague. "You sure?" he asked her.

"Yes." Mrs. Jaffee insisted.

"Seriously, stop it," Lisbon hissed at him as all three got in the elevator.

"Relax," Jane told her before turning back to the head of Jaffee printing before explaining the situation, "Saved her life, she resents me." What have you to say to my lovely little Lisbon?

It turned out she had nothing to say. But the annoyed expression on her face was well worth it.

xxxxxx

Back at the CBI offices Lisbon asked her consultant who he thought had committed the crime. But Jane didn't want to commit himself by naming names. Since when? Since when was Jane unwilling to throw out any and every stupid theory he had out there when asked? Sure he kept them to himself sometimes but usually he was more than happy to show off what he knew. Unless of course he had some huge scheme planned. He did keep asking about stupid Miles Thorston. Ugh.

Or was it something else altogether?

"You're distracted. You're thinking about Bosco and Red John case. Focus on the job at hand." That's what had gotten them into this mess. Lack of focus, and she wasn't having it anymore.

"You're glad Bosco has the Red John case aren't you," he asked her. Sure she hadn't been thrilled when they'd left Minnelli's office. But her demeanour now certainly didn't indicate that she was all that upset.

And her words confirmed it. "Bosco is a good agent. He's as good as they come. It might not be such a bad thing that we're off the case for a while. We got too close." There was that expression again. Too close. See, this is exactly why he needed to push her away. She was too close to him now. And he needed someone to rein him back in from time to time (_loathe as he was to admit it_.)

So he tried to make her uncomfortable. "Is that what your shrink tells you?" he asked her. Lisbon hated that she had to go to a psychiatrist. Everybody knew that. And he pitied the poor man who had to try and figure her out. Her secrets were better guarded than whatever was in the vault at Fort Knox.

But Lisbon was still unperturbed (_and it was getting creepy_) "Everybody tells me that," she told him easily.

"But your shrink did tell you that." She gave him a look and he relented. A little. "Okay, okay. Maybe you're right. Maybe that's the truth. Maybe we did get a little too close, I'm not so sure but I'll think about it." There, he'd though about it. They were close. But they were also invested. Determined. Didn't that outweigh any negative consequences? He thought so.

"Liar," Lisbon told him easily. But he hadn't lied. He'd never said how _long _he'd think about it.

Lisbon decided to drop it though, simply telling him to go through the victim's things while she headed off to a disposition. But Jane had no intention of doing that. He needed to get Rigsby and Cho. It was time to catch a killer.

xxxxx

He'd waited until she was gone before pulling another one of his stunts. She rested her head on her desk. Sure it'd worked, but it was the principle of the thing. She'd given him the cold shoulder earlier. Course he'd found it funny. Of the three of her boys, only Rigsby had looked a little sheepish about the whole thing. Had even apologized, which she guessed was a good sign.

At least by Jane's standards it hadn't been too bad a stunt. Maybe a three on the Jane scale (one being barely illegal, ten being pray he gave her advanced notice so she could hand in her resignation via e-mail and get the hell out of the CBI before Minnelli found out). All in all, not too bad. He'd promised no mess and so far there hadn't been any. Though come to think of it Cho had started muttering something about a disgruntled realtor...

She'd think about it tomorrow.

The case was solved. Jane hadn't been too bad. Maybe things would really be better now that they weren't working on Red John.

Maybe.

xxxxx


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4:

xxxxx

And their next case Didn't start off all that badly. Sure, Jane had slept through her briefing on the way to the crime scene, but that hardly meant anything. She'd just fill him in later. After she talked to the local authorities. "Shall I re-cap the case sleepy head?" she asked him indulgently.

But he surprised her by giving her a succinct summary of what they knew. "Kristen Marley, lady senator's aid. Rumoured romance with the senator's husband."

"Very good," she told him, mildly annoyed that her chance to gloat had been taken away from her.

"Well, I've trained myself to hear and take information while asleep," Jane tried by way of explanation.

But she wasn't falling for that. She'd been working with him for far too long, and had a pretty good idea of what he could and could not do. "The others told you."

He looked amused at her perception, "Yes they did."

Lisbon smiled back. At least they were friendlier now that they he wasn`t so frantic about Red John.

Of course he was still annoying. This time his target was (the admittedly somewhat insufferable) medical examiner sent to examine the body, who refused to speculate until he could get it back to the lab. But then of course Jane prodded the man into admitting that he didn`t believe in mind-reading.

But despite always claiming not to be psychic, apparently mind-reading was something Jane insisted pretty much anyone could do. And she was the lucky one who got to be his example. "Look at Lisbon, we can see what she's thinking."

"No kidding," she told him. After all, her facial expression couldn`t be that hard to interpret: I'd rather be anywhere but in the middle of this stupid, juvenile little competition between these two men. She was sure millions of females had had been having similar thoughts for millennia.

Of course it was some time before Jane let up on the M.E. He did finally explain that it was unlikely that the victim had jumped because only one shoe was found at the scene of the crime.

Useful conclusion, Lisbon just wished he wasn't so smug about it (and that it hadn't taken so long). "There's no need to be patronizing." she told him, though she knew it was pointless. Then, apologizing to the doctor for Jane's irritating behaviour she told Cho to call the crime in as a homicide.

xxxxx

Ah irritated Lisbon. A sight Jane had come to be familiar with over the years. She was obviously annoyed because he'd flat out told the senator and her husband that there was nothing going on between them sexually. Her annoyance amused him, although he was also somewhat incredulous that she bought the happy marriage crap in the first place. It had been completely obvious from the couple's demeanour that there wasn't a thing going on between them. Hell, he and Lisbon probably had more latent sexual chemistry...

Not that he'd been considering latent sexual chemistry with Lisbon. He was too busy trying to push her away, while simultaneously _not_ pushing her away. Striking a balance in their relationship was hard enough without dealing with... _that._

Jane was so engrossed in his female colleague and her reactions that he almost didn't notice when they were approached by her boss and a man who was clearly _very important_ (at least in his own mind). Because he knew he was about as diplomatic as a fox in a henhouse Jane was content to hang back and let Lisbon and her boss deal with Mr. Extremely-Influential-Politician-Guy, who just happened to be their senator's father. Ah, Daddy was checking up on his little girl was he? Well, Jane couldn't blame him for that. But there was clearly something else going on. No way was that man offering to help them out of the goodness of his heart, if he even had one.

Jane watched as the older man left, confident that he'd made his point, whatever it had been. Probably that he was very important, but also very helpful. Minnelli and Lisbon were also watching him leave. But Minnelli wasn't quite as amused by the development as Jane was. No, the head of the CBI was too busy making sure Lisbon understood how important propriety and discretion is in the case. Apparently Mr. Extremely-Influential-etc. etc. was so extremely influential that when he asked the director of the CBI to go for a walk, even though good ol' Virgil hated walks he took one.

"Oh, how did the Batson interview go?" Virgil asked, once he had impressed on Lisbon the stakes.

Even though the question wasn't directed at him Jane decided to answer it. "Oh that was very exciting." Virgil'd love that.

"What did he do?" the other man asked Lisbon immediately.

"Nothing that can't be repaired," she assured him quickly.

Jane just grinned. It was good having a protector.

Although later, even he had to admit that his protector was being oddly agreeable. Even for a post-Hardy case. He'd barely suggested the possibility of a secret compartment in a jewellery box, and she'd just shrugged and sent Van Pelt to check it out. I mean, sure agreeable Lisbon was helping him get what he wanted, but it was still wrong somehow.

But he couldn't dwell on that too much. He was due for an altercation with Bosco. He needed to be in top form for that. Who knew what the other man'd say? And he certainly couldn't go to Lisbon about that. She wouldn't be pleased that he'd been trying to hack the other man's pass-codes, or any of his other plans for the man's office for that matter. Because as agreeable as she was being, Teresa Lisbon was still loyal to Sam Bosco. It was intriguing.

xxxxx

Ah, she loved it when the cases were fairly straightforward. Victim's step-brother is on bad terms with victim. Victim refuses to corroborate his alibi for an unrelated crime. Victim's missing shoe is found in step-brother's car. Step-brother has no alibi for her murder. Step-brother is arrested. It felt good. She felt almost relaxed. Which of course meant that Jane was almost certain to do something to ruin it. Ah yes, here he was now.

"Did you make the arrest?" Jane asked her.

"I did," she told him with a smile, trying to maintain her relaxed mood.

"Ah ha. Victory is yours."

"Yes it is." She rolled her eyes, but it was no use. "What?" she demanded.

"Oh, nothing," he told her quietly.

But she was having none of it. The one reason she tolerated him was because of his insight. (_Well, and she was trying to let him become a valued member of her team. Just not when he was in this mood_). He was damn well going to tell her if he knew something. "Come on."

"Nothing, no."

"I'm still waiting," she told him in a tone of voice that implied she wouldn't be going anywhere until he decided to break his case-related vow of silence.

Which Jane thankfully seemed to realize that and started talking. "Throwing the body of a bridge was a smart move. Good chance the coroner would declare it a suicide. Do you really think Harlan Macadoo could come up with that?" he asked.

Okay, so it was weird. But it wasn't exactly _unheard _of. "Dumb people can come up with smart ideas and smart people can come up with dumb ones."

"Eh. True. I'll have the real killer here in twelve hours or so," Jane told her.

If she strangled him now she was pretty sure she it'd be ruled a justifiable homicide. "What are you talking about?" She asked.

"You'll see. Bye." And with that he left. He _left!_

"Jane!" she called after him. But it was no use, he was already gone.

He moved so fast he made her feel dizzy. And the feeling had only gotten worse in the last few days. Lisbon sighed. She supposed she could wait until the morning to hand Macadoo over to the D.A.'s office.

xxxxx

Of course her boss didn't agree. She told Minnelli that she hadn't sent the victim's step-brother down to be arraigned yet because the team was still tying up loose ends. Minnelli was (possibly justifiably) worried the delay had everything to do with Jane. She denied it immediately, but her boss was unconvinced.

"I want this off my desk." Minelli exclaimed. "Get Macadoo to the D.A. tonight."

But Jane had interrupted, wondering if the senator's father was really the one exerting the pressure and pushing for a speedy resolution to the case. Denials all around, but no one believed them.

Lisbon decided she was tired of their little aside and interrupted, "Is this my case sir?" she asked.

"Yes, but..."

"Then it's my decision as to when the suspect is handed over to the district attorney right?" she double-checked.

"Macadoo isn't in the DA's office first thing tomorrow morning this becomes a different conversation," was all her boss said before he walked away. She really hoped Jane had something. His hunches may be accurate, but his methods often left something to be desired, and this one was a bit of a doozy.

"You won't regret this," Jane told her.

"I already do," Lisbon told him with a half-smile.

After all, the plan hinged on the fact that all of their offices were bugged. On Jane planting a fake note in her desk. On Jane hiding out in her office while she waited next door to make the arrest. A million and one things could go wrong. It was insane. She should really be putting a stop to this.

But then, look at what had happened the last time she'd gone back on one of their plans... it certainly hadn't been an unqualified success. And she had decided to start trusting Jane more... This was after all an ideal time to put that in practice.

As it turned out, the execution was still less than ideal. They did manage to lure the spy into her office, but he'd managed to overpower Jane, and forced her to hand-cuff herself to her own door. Then in the course of his escape he managed to get into a fatal car accident. Well that was just great.

Minnelli was going to kill her. She was about ready to shoot someone (if not Jane, possibly herself) when Jane told her quietly that he had an idea. Lisbon put her head in her hands. Well, it certainly couldn't get much worse...

xxxxx

Well you didn't need to have his abilities to see that Minnelli wasn't pleased with Lisbon. Probably him too, but he didn't so much care about that. "You abused a corpse to get a confession," the other man was saying to her.

Jane felt the need to jump in there. To clarify. "Used. Used a corpse, there's no ab." And they hadn't. They'd merely propped up a corpse in the interrogation room to make it look like he'd talked to them, thus eliciting a confession from the senator for murder. Their little spy had been planted in the CBI by her _extremely important _father to make sure that Lisbon and her team didn't actually figure out who the real killer was. Really they'd just sat the body down on a chair and filmed it. It's not like they'd gone at the thing with baseball bats or anything. He felt it was an important distinction.

Minnelli didn't see it that way of course, "I'm appalled. I don't know what to say," he told Lisbon as he shook his head. Jane figured any second now the steam'd start coming out of his ears.

But if Lisbon was concerned she certainly didn't show it. "Sir, it's not like we killed him. His neck was broken in the crash," she pointed out.

"We got a confession," Jane added, hoping to pacify the other man a little.

But Virgil was not at all pacified. "Suppose you didn't? Suppose you'd been wrong?" he asked Jane. Jane fought the urge to shrug. He hadn't really considered that possibility. He'd been pretty sure his plan would work. "Have you any idea of the vastness of the crapstorm that would follow?" Minnelli continued. Jane was forced to admit to himself that it would've been pretty bad. Especially for _her._ But she didn't seem to mind. In fact she looked _annoyed..._ Okay, what was going on with the good Agent Lisbon? Even her guilt couldn't be that all-encompassing could it? If so he might need to tone things down a bit (_but why? You're getting what you wanted case-wise aren't you? And I thought you weren't supposed to care about her...) _"It would blot out the sun," Minnelli finished seriously.

Again, Lisbon stepped up for him (_Again. He was losing count now, for this case alone._). "Sir, Crewe and Batson manipulated us into arresting the wrong person. They bugged our offices and subverted our case. I don't think we did anything wrong. I think we should be commended." Well if Jane'd been surprised before, he was absolutely dumbfounded now. _Commended_? Teresa Lisbon thought _his,_ Patrick Jane's, methods should be commended? Had someone put something in her M&M supply or something?

It seemed Virgil was equally concerned, and Jane couldn't say that he blamed him. The head of the CBI turned to the mentalist and gave him a sad smile, "Congratulations, you finally got her to drink the Kool-Aid." But Jane wasn't triumphant, couldn't even bring himself to meet the director's eyes. Had he really managed to corrupt _her _that much? It was a worrying thought. She was supposed to be his protector, his tenuous link to reality. Without her...

Minnelli called him back to the present with a parting warning, "Check yourself Agent. ALL of you." And Jane couldn't help but feel the warning needed to be heeded. (_Not that he'd heed it... but surely it wasn't too late for her to... surely...)_

"Well I thought that went pretty well," was all he said.

"Great, yeah." Lisbon told him sarcastically.

Jane kept going, he needed to keep the tone light, and figure out later what he wanted to do. "Highlight for me was definitely your speech. Passionate, articulate, strong."

Lisbon just glanced at him, "Whatever," was all she said before walking away.

Jane watched her go, unease settling in the pit of his stomach. Sure, relaxed, non-rule obsessed Lisbon was certainly more fun. And he liked her more when she was smiling at him than when she was scowling (though annoyance could be fun too). But... but... they weren't _supposed _to be getting closer. His insanity was supposed to push her away. And it... it wasn't working. Damn woman wouldn't be pushed away. For some reason she was sticking by him when all logic dictated that she should just throw him to the wolves.

And while hearing her rise to her defence had certainly resulted in well, feelings of... of... almost _warmth_ (_that under any other circumstances he would have almost welcomed_). As things stood... He corrupted people. And he tainted them. He couldn't taint her. Not any more.

As he watched her back as she walked away Jane had to admit that he was worried. (_But you aren't supposed to be worried are you? She's not supposed to mean anything is she? She's just a means to an end after all. Why would you be worried about your increased ability to manipulate her?) _

Enough. He'd been obsessing about Teresa Lisbon for far too long. Time to go back to focusing on Red John again. After all, he had an office to bug.

He was really worried about her though. Damn it all to hell.

What was he going to do about it?

xxxxx

She'd just stood in the middle of the bullpen and told her boss in no uncertain terms that her team should be _commended_. That there was not a thing wrong with any of Jane's methods. Minnelli had been equal parts unimpressed, angry and concerned. She couldn't blame him.

Everyone seemed to think that Jane had finally corrupted her.

But was it really corruption? They kept him around after all; he had to be good for something. And he had helped close the case...

So he'd talked her into propping up a corpse in an interrogation room and using it... _Oh god._ She'd used a corpse, a corpse of a human being, _to trick someone into confessing._ And the worst part about it was, she didn't even remember him having to try that hard to convince her it was a good idea. Since their only witness had been dead after all, they'd needed a confession. She'd just gone along with Jane's plan...

It was kind of terrifying now that she thought about it.

But what was she supposed to do after she'd done it? Tell her boss that she'd had a lapse in judgement? Yeah, that'd be a great idea, give him even more reason to be concerned. And that'd look great, like she was in total control. She refused to give anyone the impression otherwise. She'd worked to damn hard to get where she was.

She and Jane were just adjusting still. It'd work out... So maybe just deciding to give him more leeway hadn't been a great idea. She needed to come up with some rules. Boundaries. Like when she was going to support him and where she was going to draw the line. Because she couldn't go on like this forever.

So she had to make a decision. Would she support him? Was her role just to allow Jane the freedom to close cases? Was she enabling him? Was their solve rate enough? She wanted them to become a cohesive team, but Jane, well, she wasn't sure that Jane actually wanted that. Sometimes maybe, but most of the time... well... he was too caught up in his little games to think about the rest of them. He seemed content to whirl around and let them be his safety net. And Lisbon couldn't let him drop. He'd been there for her when she'd needed him. It was her turn to return the favour (_Besides, she might be a bit, a very little bit, fond of the man... God that grin..._). She'd just have to come up with the rules as they went along.

After all, nothing too disastrous had happened. _Yet._

And while she should probably draw the line at corpses, it did feel kind of liberating not to play things so straight all the time...

Lisbon sighed and went back to her paperwork, resisting the urge to put her head in her hands and wonder when everything had gotten so complicated, so out of control.

xxxxx

In his office Virgil Minnelli didn't even try to go back to work. He stood at his window and tried not to worry. Had it been a mistake to bring Jane in all those years ago? It was plain that he'd insinuated his way into Agent Lisbon's affections, at least to a certain degree. He should have known that though she was competent she was also prone to a guilty conscience. The woman had been raised Catholic after all... And after that scene in the bullpen... What was going on with Special Agent Lisbon? Or were things simply still in the middle of a readjustment period? Could things have taken this long to shake out? He'd hoped that taking the team off of the Red John case would help things along. And it had to a certain extent. Maybe they all just needed more time.

He just prayed that he didn't end up watching Jane destroy one of his more promising (and if he was honest, one of his favourite) agents. He didn't think he'd be able to stomach that.

Well, he thought philosophically as he sat down at his desk. No use worrying about things that might happen.

And who knows, maybe she'd finally be able to knock some sense into the man.

It was possible, wasn't it?

Only time would tell.

xxxxx

The End


End file.
